On August 11, I wrote a post about TBWA\Chiat\Day\Night. On that night, we ended up almost pulling an all-nighter. And by almost, I mean li left at 6a to go get ready for her wedding and I left at 6a, went home, took a shower, and came back to the office at 8a.

What came out of that night was a client presentation for the digital launch of the new Nissan Juke. And out of all that work, the one big thing that has consumed the past few months with blood-shot eyes, sweat (in our armpits, usually when presenting to Rob Schwartz) and tears (because yes, we’re girls) – oh, and carpal tunnel syndrome and degenerating eyesight for AD li – is our iAd. (What’s an iAd? Check here)

It’s the 27th iAd ever made. And the process showed that strain. More meetings than for any other project ever. More struggles and discussions and decisions than we thought possible. And since there aren’t any best practices yet, every step was a learning process. But a great one.

After 13 copydecks,

27 versions of the userflow and wireframes,

161 PSDs with hundreds of layers,

and a little bit of broken glass.

The final product might not reflect all that work. What Steve Jobs refers to as the “superbowl ad of mobile ads,” is still, after all, a mobile ad (albeit hopefully a good one!). But what we learned through the process is probably far more valuable than the creative work that came out of it. Which is probably true for most advertising.

So without further rambling,

(Or maybe just a little bit more rambling,)

Here is what a creative director at Apple called “being able to taste the chocolate,” without actually eating any.